Clayton Lockett’s execution wasn't properly monitored: report

OKLAHOMA CITY — The intravenous line inserted into the groin of an Oklahoma inmate who writhed and groaned before dying 43 minutes after his execution began was not properly monitored, causing a swelling the size of a golf ball, according to a state review released Thursday.

Clayton Lockett’s troubled execution on April 29 prompted Gov. Mary Fallin to halt all upcoming executions until a review she’d ordered was completed. It also intensified a debate over lethal injections in America, where states have been scrambling to find lethal drugs as drugmakers have cut off supplies.

6:33 p.m.: Lockett declared unconscious by a doctor. Doctor begins administering second and third drugs. Second drug is vecuronium bromide, a paralyzing agent. The third is potassium chloride, which stops the heart. A problem was noticed and it is unclear how much of the drugs made it into Lockett’s system.

6:36 p.m.: Lockett begins breathing heavily, writhing, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow. His foot shakes and he mumbles. At one stage he calls out, “Oh, man.”

Oklahoma used the sedative midazolam for the first time in Lockett’s execution. That drug was also used in lengthy attempts to execute an Ohio inmate in January and an Arizona prisoner last month. Each time, witnesses said the inmates appeared to gasp after their executions began and continued to labour for air before being pronounced dead.

But Oklahoma’s review didn’t find fault with midazolam or other drugs, instead noting that the IV troubles made it difficult to determine the drugs’ effectiveness.

The review, released by the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, cited problems with Lockett’s IV line and also recommended more training for prison officials and medical personnel involved in executions.

“This investigation concluded the viability of the IV access point was the single greatest factor that contributed to the difficulty in administering the execution drugs,” according to the DPS report. The agency’s commissioner was appointed by Fallin.

Fallin had no immediate comment on the report, nor did a corrections department spokesman.

A paramedic and physician inserted the intravenous line in Lockett’s groin after failing to find suitable veins in his arms, legs, neck and feet. The report says the IV site was covered with a sheet and not monitored until Lockett began moving unexpectedly after receiving two doses of drugs.

“The physician observed an area of swelling underneath the skin and described it as smaller than a tennis ball, but larger than a golf ball. The physician believed the swelling would have been noticeable if the access point had been viewed during the process,” the report said.

This investigation concluded the viability of the IV access point was the single greatest factor that contributed to the difficulty in administering the execution drugs,

State prisons director Robert Patton halted Lockett’s execution, and Lockett died behind a shuttered curtain 43 minutes after his execution began.

Patton said the cause was a heart attack, but autopsy results released last week said he died from the drugs: midazolam, vercuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The autopsy did not explain why the execution took so long or why Lockett writhed.

Lockett’s execution was to be the first of two executions held back-to-back on April 29, but the second execution was postponed that night.

The DPS report recommended that the state hold executions at least seven days apart, noting that the prison warden believed that the planned double execution caused “extra stress” for staff members.

Lockett, 38, had been convicted of shooting Stephanie Nieman, 19, with a sawed-off shotgun and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in 1999.

Three executions have been set in Oklahoma for November and December. One of the inmates is Charles Warner, who was supposed to die the same day as Lockett.